Digital Platforms as a Method of Invention for Infection Surveillance.

ABSTRACT

Background: The history of large-scale technological advances, such as the digital revolution in our era, suggests that core technologies yield wide benefits by serving as a method of invention, spawning new tools and techniques that surpass the performance of their predecessors. Methods: Digital platforms provide a method of invention in the health sector by enabling innovations in data collection, use, and sharing. Although wide adoption of computerized information technology in healthcare has produced mixed results, the advent of mobile health (mHealth) creates new opportunities for device-mediated advances in surgical and public health practice. Conclusion: Mobile solutions for collecting, using, and sharing patient-generated health data after surgery can yield important benefits for post-operative monitoring, whether the data are used to evaluate and manage individual patients or track infections and other outcomes in patient populations.